Counter-Programming

I don’t actually have a lot to say on this topic, but the fluctuating ratings for The Jay Leno Show — up one night, down the next, and back up the night after that — have led to speculation that he will, or at least should, try to adjust his show depending on what’s on the other networks. His best night this week was the night he was up against The Good Wife, a show that was somewhat uncomfortably placed after the NCIS spinoff. The guy viewers who tuned out after NCIS: LA may have gone over to Leno. But on other nights, those same viewers will stick with something else. (It’s fair to say that Leno will always be the last choice for viewers at 10 o’clock; NBC is hoping that he’ll get enough viewers who simply don’t like any of the other shows in that slot.) So he could do better by tailoring his material to be an alternative, at least slightly, to the other programs he’s up against. He can’t change the guests very far in advance, but the jokes, skits and bits can be tweaked so as to hold the attention of whoever is most likely to be tuning in on that particular day.